We all want children to be healthy, succeed in school, and grow up to be our next generation of great teachers, helpful co-workers, and effective leaders. The first step is ensuring healthy pregnancies and healthy births. One of the most effective strategies to improve health for moms and babies is to make sure moms receive the care they need before, during, and after pregnancy.

That’s why the two newly redesigned programs in Texas – the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) program and the Family Planning Program (FPP) – are so important. Through these two programs, eligible low-income women can get preventive health screenings, women’s health exams, and family planning, including contraception, at little or no cost. When women can plan and space their pregnancies and get the health care they need before, during, and between pregnancies, their babies are less likely to be born premature, which reduces state health costs. Moms are more likely to get early prenatal care and the folic acid...

During this interim legislative year, two Texas legislative committees have been tasked with studying whether Texas could use waivers authorized by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to help stabilize the...

I wanted to make sure you saw the extensive report in the Texas Tribune yesterday regarding the state's maternal mortality crisis, an issue that is sure to be on the agenda during the next legislative session. The Tribune has a follow-up story today on the shortage of rural Texas hospitals that deliver babies, one of the obstacles to prenatal care and support for maternal health.

This week the Trump Administration announced that it will now approve states' requests to establish Medicaid work requirements under certain circumstances.

The concept is a bad idea for all states, but especially for Texas. Ninety-six percent of Texans enrolled in Medicaid are children, seniors, pregnant women, or people with significant disabilities - not exactly great candidates for...

The regular open enrollment period for health insurance through the Obamacare Marketplace ended Friday December 15, but Texans who either currently live in a disaster-affected area, or did when Hurricane...

With a quickly approaching deadline—after which 400,000 Texas kids could be dropped from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)—over 30 leading Texas health care and advocacy organizations sent a joint...

This week we got a view into the policy priorities for the 2019 Texas legislative session as the Speaker of the House and the Lt. Governor announced “interim charges,” the policy issues that legislative committees will study and hold hearings on over the next year. Speaker Joe Straus announced charges for the House, including several new charges related to Hurricane Harvey, while Lt. Governor Dan Patrick released two batches of charges for Senate committees (here and here) to add to his previous announcement of...

While Congress members were focused on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and cut Medicaid, they irresponsibly let federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expire...

As you may have heard, late last week the President announced that he is ending federal payments for "cost-sharing reductions" under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It's a bizarre target, considering the program's sole purpose is to reduce costs -- namely deductibles and co-pays -- for low-income Americans who sign up for insurance through the ACA Marketplace. Over 600,000 Texans receive help to...